Adventures in Room To Grow

Editor's note: The Museum of Discovery is proud to kick off our "MOD Voices" guest blogger series!  First up is our good friend Savannah Butler. 

My kids love a good adventure. They’ve never been to Disney World, they’ve never ridden a rollercoaster, but my kids know an adventure when they see one. And stepping into the Museum of Discovery’s "Room to Grow," each one of them spotted an adventure.

Immediately my six year old Boy was transfixed by the sleeping dragon at the gate. He jumped, he flailed, he stood “soldier still,” all in hopes that he could figure the thing out. My 19 month old Baby headed straight to the Under 4 farm area. She delighted herself screaming “MOOOO!” at the big cow.

When my almost-4 year old princess-in-training Girl saw the castle theater, it was a drama queen dream come true! It took some poking and prodding, but we finally managed to move our kids past the first two activities in Room to Grow. The Boy scaled the rock wall while his sisters cheered him on. He read plaques about health in the Fitness Forrest to the Girl, who then tried her balance on a balance beam.

My husband and I knew we were doomed once the two big kids spotted the pirate ship and lighthouse. “There goes another two hours,” my husband quipped. My Boy must have raced up and down the lighthouse stairs ten times (which in itself is a feat!) before he joined his sister as they became co-captains of the ship.

We only lost the Baby once (she has a fearless tendency to walk away… she’s an explorer), and it turned out that she was around the corner in the Construction Zone, working her fine motor skills on some magnetic letters. As much as we tried to convince our kids that there was SO MUCH MORE TO SEE, they were more than content to stay in the Room to Grow.

When we finally managed to pry them away, we headed to the Alice’s Wonderland exhibit. It was an amazing area, full of the science of Wonderland.

Our Baby marveled in the shrinking hall. The Girl was surprised at the mirrors that made it look like you were above- or below-ground. The Boy even walked away with a new favorite vocabulary word: parabola.

Once again we promised the kids that WE COULD SEE MORE THINGS! and just in time, we caught the Big Electric Show. It was certainly a hair-raising experience for us all. My husband was brave enough to hold a fluorescent bulb close to a Tesla coil. Both the Boy and the Girl put their hands on The Van de Graaff generator as we all watched their hair spring to life!

look carefully...you can see his hair standing up!

We never even made it downstairs. After almost four hours, we left the Museum and headed back across the river, promising the kids- and ourselves- that we would return soon to finish the tour. Though, I’m afraid when we go back they will take up their positions at the helm of the pirate ship and refuse to ever leave again!

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Savannah Butler is a wife and stay-at-home mother to three darling and extremely pleasant young children. She loves giving her kids opportunities to explore and discover the world around them. She occasionally escapes from beneath the laundry pile long enough to pose as Conway Community Editor for Little Rock Family magazine. Savannah likes babies, popcorn, and napping. She writes about her family’s big and small adventures on her personal blog.



* Editor’s note: The Museum of Discovery gave the author complimentary admission for her family’s visit.